#Sochi2014: USA vs Russia, Men's Curling.

I started watching in the 8th end. US was up 6-5 but Russia had the hammer. The 8th consisted of mostly knockouts and Russia was left with a clean sheet for their last rock. They chose to burn it and keep the hammer for the 9th end.

In the 9th, the last shot for the US seemed to me to be a mistake. There was one Russian rock in the house, and the US did get closer to the button in front of it, but it seemed very possible for Russia to knock out the US stone, and get two points. On their hammer throw, they did knock out the US stone, but they also nicked their own. They got one point and gave up the hammer. A blunder.

Love hearing Russian fans cheering after their curling team screwed up on the hammer. #USA
— Dan Arnoldi (@ArnoldiPSU) February 14, 2014

Genuinely stressed about this USA/Russia curling match. Tied late. Geopolitical implications. Chanting. Basically the end of "Rocky IV."
— Willie Geist (@WillieGeist) February 14, 2014

Throughout the 10th, the US had a stone about 4 feet away, and Russia had one on the button. What followed was a series of Russian guards and US peeling said guards.

Here's what it looked like with US about to throw its last two stones. (The second stone indicator in the top left was blinking)

Here you can see the second to last US (yellow) stone has appeared near the guy's feet. It nicked another stone and was not a great shot.

So two stones to go...and my NBC online feed cuts out. My 30-minute viewing pass expired. To keep watching I had verify my TV provided. I don't have one. I still don't understand this policy.

Regardless, there were two stones to go. Russia placed their last red shot and it was down to the US skip to get closer with his yellow hammer. Here's the result I found on twitter:

Russia gets one point. Wins 7-6 despite not having the hammer in the 10th.